


Thinking Of You

by RedLlamas



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Caretaking, Falling In Love, Food, Happy Ending, Hugs, Love Confessions, M/M, Miz-centric, Road Trips, Sunsets, falling in love via laughing, love confessions in the rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 20:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18415394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedLlamas/pseuds/RedLlamas
Summary: Mike fell in love with Daniel in parts.





	Thinking Of You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bluhungryshrk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluhungryshrk/gifts).



> title adapted from "[her](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipXVck-QW1c)" by eery  
> Zach, u said u wanted a loving fic  
> well,  
> here it is

Mike fell in love with Daniel in parts.

He first noticed how lovely Daniel looked when he smiled. His entire face lit up, and his eyes crinkled. Mike felt a flushing throughout his body, and bashfully smiled at him.

Daniel’s eyes twinkled whenever he was happy or conspiring. He sometimes catches Daniel giggling, and can’t help but join him (of course, how couldn’t he? It was infectious).  _ What happened? _ he’d ask.  _ I pranked somebody _ , Daniel’d answer.

Want to watch?

Of course.

 

The next step was finding out how illuminated Daniel’s entire being was after seeing him stand in the desert at sunset. His face was aglow with golden light, his eyes a dark gray, his hair a flaming bronze. Mike missed the step off the bus and fell onto his face into the sand. He got dust all over him, but thought it was worth it just to hear Daniel laugh, even if it was at his expense.

Mike would try catching him at dusk or dawn, make up excuses as to why he wanted to meet up so early or so late. “ _There’s a new coffee shop nearby and they don’t have lines in the morning._ ” “ _I heard about the neighborhood cats doing something weird when it gets dark, wanna check it out?_ ” “ _You’re the only one I trust when I get drunk._ ”

Daniel never said anything about these flimsy excuses. He’d just warmly smile at him, say, “Sure,” and accompany him wherever he wanted. Mike would usually take them out on the less-travelled road, long winding roads out in the sun. He’d sneak glances at Daniel, note the way his hair flipped in the wind, how he squinted in the waxing sunlight.

Daniel caught him, once. He turned his head to look at him, smiling devilishly so.

“What?” he tried to defend.

“Eyes on the road, Miz,” came Daniel’s reply.

Mike huffed and turned his eyes back to the road. Daniel chuckled next to him, and he feels flush.

 

There were many more moments where Mike slipped ever so slightly deeper into love. Soft gentle mornings when the light hadn’t fully formed yet. Transient moments where they just brushed past each other during their busy weeks. And even still, moments spent hours together, practically joined at the hip.

Still, it was when Mike came back from a terrible fight that he slowly made his way back to his locker room. He winced at every step, body flinching when people got too close to him. He heard a faint rhythmic thumping, as if someone was running. Ten feet from his door, and the source of the thumping revealed itself as a very haggard and concerned Daniel Bryan.

“Miz!” he said. He stopped to breathe, and reached a hand out to Mike, who only shook his head in response.

“Oh, man. I saw your fight, and rushed to get here.”

“Thank you, glad I caught your eye.”

Daniel cracked a smile, then very gently took hold of his elbow and helped him enter his room. He slowly set him down on the couch, and lifted his legs onto it so he was laying down. Mike could finally relax and let the tension out.

Daniel hovered for a bit, hands clasping and unclasping as he tried thinking what he could do.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

Mike cracked open one eye, looked at him. He was really worried about him, Mike’s never seen him like this.

“Can you get me ice?”

“Of course.”

Daniel ran out to get him all the ice he could to cover his body. Mike was never so grateful for the cold before.

“Anything else?” Daniel asked, finally sitting down on a chair near him.

“No, thank you, Daniel,” Mike said, shaking his head. And he meant it, Daniel had already gotten him the ice. But it seems that Daniel’s not keen on moving. Mike looks at him again.

“Can I help you with something?”

“You’re very sore.”

“Noted.”

“And helpless.”

Mike raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to take advantage of me, Daniel? Alleviate my pain?” He wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Daniel just chuckled.

“Not exactly.”

“Oh my God, you’re gonna do things to me?” Mike tried his best to sound scandalized. Daniel laughed, Mike’s heart clenched, and he left the room. Mike didn’t know what to do, and for a few minutes, was left to his own thoughts.

Daniel came back five minutes later, with a bag in his hands. He sat down, set it down, and pulled out a container that seemed to hold… food.

“What. Is that,” Mike asked.

“It’s the tofu stew that you promised you would try!” Daniel seemed absolutely giddy with excitement. He pulled out a spoon, and took a spoonful of the tofu stew and brought it to Mike’s mouth.

“It’s real good,” Daniel said with a smile.

Mike tried to glare, but he opened his mouth nonetheless. The plane touched down, and he had to admit, it was pretty good, for fake meat.

They spent the evening like this, Daniel feeding Mike several vegan concoctions, and Mike would relate stories of his past to fill the space between them. He made Daniel laugh, and that’s all that matters.

The moment in which Mike realized that he’d do anything to see Daniel happy, be it by hurting himself or acquiescing to his demands, was the moment that he realized he’s in love with him.

This realization came with him accidentally dribbling some green smoothie on himself. He tried lifting an arm to wipe his mouth, but his arm killed him dead. Daniel honest to God guffawed at his reaction, reaching to hand him a napkin.

Mike couldn’t believe it.

He’s in love, with Daniel Bryan.

Hell, he’s been in love for a while, but it all came into place in this moment.

In love.

Huh.

 

He doesn’t confess until a few months later.

Their friendship was at its strongest point, them now being inseparable parts of each others’ lives. Daniel couldn’t live without Mike, and Mike couldn’t live without Daniel. They fitted themselves to each other, became each other’s side of the coin.

It was sundown. They were outside, on the hood of Mike’s car, sipping beers from a nearby bar. The sun’s rays were to the back of them, and Daniel was cast in a fiery glow.

He didn’t look away when Daniel met his gaze.

“What?” he asked.

Mike shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Then? What’s with all the staring?” Daniel teased. He lowered his head, conspiratorially asking, “Are you coming on to me?”

“I’m in love with you.”

Daniel stared at him, smile gone from his face.

“Yeah,” Mike said, turning his gaze to the horizon, taking a long sip from his bottle.

 

Daniel didn’t respond, and that’s okay. Mike wasn’t expecting anything in return.

He continued like he hadn’t said anything. They were still friends, and he was going to do his best to keep honoring that.

What Mike didn’t expect was for Daniel to come to his door in the middle of the night a month later. It was pouring outside, and Mike hadn’t heard the knocking on the door the first time. Daniel had to knock continuously for him to get down to the door and open it to find a very wet friend.

“Daniel? What’re you doing here?” he asked, reaching to get him inside.

Daniel shook his head, and instead pulled him out into the rain. Mike was instantly cold. He hated the cold.

“Miz, I need to tell you something,” Daniel began, but Mike waved him off.

“Daniel, what’re you thinking? You’re gonna catch a cold in this!” Mike tried to reason, but Daniel wouldn’t hear him. He shook his head, and held his shoulders tightly.

“No, Miz, you don’t understand–”

“Daniel, come on–”

“Mike! Listen to me!” He shook Mike’s shoulders tightly. Mike stopped, and looked at him. Daniel closed his eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled. His breath was fog in the cold night. The rain kept falling around them.

He looked up at him, blue into blue.

“Mike, I love you.”

This… is unexpected.

“No you don’t.”

“Yes I do.”

“No, you don’t. I’m alone here, in this.” He takes Daniel’s hands away from his shoulders, steps back. “You’re only saying that because you felt bad about leaving me hanging.”

Daniel seems crestfallen. “Mike, do you really think I can’t love you?”

Mike shrugs, uneasy now. His skin goosebumped with every droplet.

“Mike, I love you. I want you to know that I love you.” Daniel reached for his face, brought their foreheads together. He couldn’t tell rain from tears.

“I feel like I’ve loved you since the beginning,” he whispers, so that only Mike can hear him.

“Which beginning?” Mike asks, just as softly. He hugs Daniel close to him.

“I don’t know. Maybe the beginning beginning. Maybe we’re from the same star.”

Mike smiles at him. “You got that off the Internet.”

Daniel cheekily grins at him. He smooths his thumb over his cheek. “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not starstruck around you.”

Mike laughs. He wants to cry. He feels red all over.

“Hey.”

He looks at Daniel.

“I love you, Mike. With all my heart. With all of me.”

Mike could melt… 

“I love you, too.”

… and he did with the smile Daniel gave him.

They held each other in the rain, in love with being in each other’s arms.

Mike is finally the happy one in their relationship.


End file.
